Building for the future – a look at how AFL clubs have gone about the rebuilding process

It’s a question that has been asked countless times within AFL media circles. “What exactly is the right way to go about a rebuild?” Analysts such as David King and Terry Wallace have discussed “list profile” ad nauseam, but which sides have excelled in this department?

Over the past few years we’ve seen multiple samples — all with slightly varying methods.

After years spent as a cellar dweller, Melbourne realised they had to be bold in their strategy if they wanted to resurrect their club. In came Jesse Hogan through the mini-draft, they sent pick two to the Giants for Dom Tyson and pick 9 which they used on Christian Salem and rolled the dice on Clayton Oliver at pick 4 despite the fact he didn’t even play in the under 18 national carnival — a decision that has well and truly been vindicated so far.

The only glaring black mark against the Melbourne recruiters in the last few years would be the selection of Jimmy Toumpas at pick four over a player such as Ollie Wines, but every club has made similar mistakes — just ask Richmond fans.

Once Melbourne had assembled its core group of youngsters entrusted with brining the club out of the darkness, it realised it needed experience and polish and brought in proven performers in Jordan Lewis, Bernie Vince, Michael Hibberd and Jake Melksham.

While inconsistency has plagued the Demons in recent times, their win-loss ratio has steadily improved each year since they began their rebuild under Paul Roos in 2014.

They now possess one of the deepest and most talented midfields in the competition which will only improve further once a player like Christian Petracca begins to spend more time in there.

Their most obvious deficiency is their developing backline and lack of a forward target to stand next to Jesse Hogan — who shoulders so much of the responsibility in the forward half of the ground.

Much like Melbourne, St Kilda decided to strip back its entire list but opted against bringing in experienced players in the Lewis and Vince mould. The players they have traded in over the past few years have all been relatively young with the exception of Nathan Brown last year.

In came Josh Bruce and Tim Membrey who have become vital cogs in their forward line, young midfield bulls Jack Steele, Maverick Weller and Koby Stevens for bargain-base prices, as well as former Essendon key defender Jake Carlisle, who can be as influential as any key position player in the competition on his day.

Developing ruckman Tom Hickey and Billy Longer were brought in to provide depth in that area, while Dylan Roberton and Shane Savage were cast in to provide some much-needed class by foot.

If you now look at that list of names, they make up the spine of St Kilda’s side. Add players such as Sebastian Ross, Jade Gresham, Blake Acres and the improving Jack Billing’s to the mix and suddenly the Saints have the nucleus to seriously challenge for premierships in the next three or four years.

The most impressive thing about St Kilda’s recruiting has been that they managed to bring in young quality players without compromising their position in the draft. The Saints were happy to play the waiting game full-knowing that progress would be slow, but their performance against GWS on the weekend shows they are tracking the right way.

Compare this strategy to Hawthorn’s and North Melbourne’s of previous years and there is daylight between them. Both are high-risk, high-reward approaches, but for different reasons.

For clubs sensing they are in the premiership window like Hawthorn did this off-season, it makes sense to top up your list with more top-end talent by trading away draft picks.

The only problem with doing this — which has become so apparent as the Hawks have derailed, is that it can leave a gaping hole in the list in terms of young top-end talent coming through if the club misjudges its standing in the competition

On the other hand, clubs willing to go through the draft realise they are not guaranteed success just by having high draft picks alone. While so much analysis now goes into drafting players, there are so many variable factors that determine if these young players can reach their potential.

Carlton are the latest side to embark on a full-scale “reset” as coach Brendan Bolton likes to describe it. They have very much applied the St Kilda philosophy, but what’s been interesting with the blues is how they’ve approached it not only from a recruiting point of view, but also from a match-day point of view.

It was only three weeks ago we saw a Carlton side made up of 13 players with less than 50 games experience and seven teenagers get fed to the prying wolves by coach Brendan Bolton.

Despite a 90-point decimation at the hands of a rampaging Port Adelaide, Bolton stressed that the club were “never going to miss the opportunity” to give their young players exposure on a big stage such as Friday night footy.

While that somewhat kamikaze approach is a dangerous one considering it has the possibility to damage a young player’s confidence — think Jack Watts on debut, it obviously serves as an educational process which Bolton is huge on.

Fast forward two weeks and on the back of bringing in some more experienced players such as Alex Silvagni, Sam Kerridge, Nick Graham and Billie Smedts, the Blues have won two games on the trot against more fancied opposition in Sydney and Collingwood.

When team selection becomes so geared towards the future that it virtually guarantees a hiding, fans will become impatient because they naturally crave success. They want to see growth in their young players, but they also demand progress on the scoreboard and in game-style.

The great challenge for clubs in rebuild mode is to strike a balance between youth and experience that allows for competitiveness, but that also fast-tracks development.

Despite the doom and gloom which usually comes before the optimism at the beginning of a rebuild, a club such as Fremantle has shown that it doesn’t have to be a slow process if done correctly and with foresight in mind.

There is no doubt plenty of struggling clubs will have sat up and taken notice of Freo’s quick turnaround, which now leaves them in a position to play finals after suffering such a disastrous season last year.

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